Friday, February 21, 2014

It Made Me Realize Just How Far She's Come

We had Beth's annual assessment this week. The Support Intensity Scale assessment.

Beth's case worker comes to the house and they ask all kinds of questions about all kinds of things. Some of them seem a little strange, but they need to find out exactly how much support she needs for everyday life. That way they can decide how much financial aid to give her.

There are questions about health and safety: 'if Beth was home alone and there was a fire, would she know what to do?' (She told him she'd run out of the house and call 911.) He seemed impressed.

Protection and advocacy: 'if someone came to the door and told you they'd give you money if you gave them your debit card, what would you do?' (She said she wouldn't open the door. She'd just stay in her room.)

Community living: 'if she was summoned for jury duty, would she be able to serve or would she need help?' (I told him she had been summoned and we both went to the courthouse and they dismissed her from serving.) (Beth wouldn't have been able to serve. She just doesn't have the mental capacity.) He sounded surprised that she had actually been summoned. He's was young and has probably asked that question of a lot of clients and didn't expect to hear that answer. :)

They need to know if she needs help taking a shower or getting dressed; getting on and off the bus; making friends. Does she ask for help at work, is she able to read a menu... he was here for an hour asking question after question.

He has the notes from previous years assessments and I was really surprised at how much Beth has changed the last couple of years. She's no longer depressed. She is doing phenomenally at work. She is becoming more outgoing at church.

(Chuck and I are in a home group and one of the ladies told us that Beth came up to her and gave her a hug one Sunday! We don't even know J very well, but Beth has adopted her! Then J told us that Beth went up to her another time and announced, "I'm back!" and proceeded to tell her that she had been sick and had missed church... my mouth fell to the floor!) Our Beth!

It was a very good assessment this year. She's come such a long way and we hadn't even noticed!After it was over, Beth and I went out to lunch and then did a little shopping at an antique store not far from our house. Not a bad way to spend a Wednesday.

5 comments:

I wonder if her new job helped her become more upbeat? It just always sounds like she enjoys it and that everyone there loves her. I know when I enjoy my work, I feel so much better about everything else. I'm glad to hear all the positives. Keep it up, Beth!!!

In the past, it's been my job to carry out similar sounding assessments, and it's always so good to hear when things have changed for the good. It also gives another purpose to the process, if it highlights things like depression lifting, which might not be obvious on a day to day basis. Really good news all round.

Excellent. Marcus has an assessment this week. His first in years - I'm not looking forward to it because I don't really know what to expect. But - it must be done so we can help get him back to work. Sigh. On we go :)